Washing-machine



'H. J. CRINER.

WASHING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED my 3, 1920.

Patented Jan. 4,1921;

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

H. J. CRINER.

' WASHING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 3, 1920.

1,364,079. Patented Jan. 4, 1921.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HARRY J. GRINER, OF MOLINE, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO D. M. SECHLEB IMPLEMENT & CARRIAGE COMPANY, OF MOLINE, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

WASHING-MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent Patented Jan. 4, 1921.

. Application and May 3, 19.20. Serial No. 378,449.

. citizen of the United States and a resident of Moline, in the county of liock Island and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Washmg-Ma chines, of'which the following 1s a specification, ref'erence being ,had to the accompanying drawings.

1V y invention relates to washing machines, and it has for its object: the provision of a new and improved form and arrangement of the parts by which a wringer is driven in various adjusted positions with respect to the machine as a whole, andby which the adjustment of the position of the wrmgeris accomplished, means being provided for preventing the driving of the wringer during the process'of adjustment. The preferred means by which I have accomplished my object are illustrated in the drawings and are hereinafter described. That WlllCh I believe to be new and desire to cever by this application is set forth in the cla1ms.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side view of a washing machine embodying my improvements, a portion of the wringer being broken away;

Figs. 2, 3 and 4 are diagrammatic views illustrating three of the several different positions of the wringer;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged detail of the driving mechanism for the wringer, being substantially a section taken on line 5-5 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a horizontal section taken on line 6-6 of Fig. 5; and

Fig. 7 is substantially a horizontal section taken on line 7-7 of Fig. 5.

Referring to the several figures of the drawings in which corresponding parts are indicated by the same reference characters,-

' 10 indicates the body of my improved washing machine mounted upon casters 11 of any suitable type and closed at its upper end by a coverplate 12. A drum 13 of any approved construction is revolubly' mounted between the side walls of the machine, being driven by any suitable train of mechanism, not illustrated in detail, from a vertical shaft 14 journaled in a vertical cylindrical casing 15 atone corner of themachine. The shaft 14 is provided with a worm gear 16 which is'driven by a worm 17 mounted upon a horizontal shaft 18 which in'turn is driven by a motor 19 through the medium of a belt 20 and pulleys 21 and 22. The train of mechanism for driving the drum 13 from the shaft 14 comprises a throw-out mechanism of any suitable type adapted to be thrown into and out of operation by means of a lever 23.

, Referring now particularly to Fig. 5, 24 indicates a housing provided with a stud 25 depending from its lower face and extendmg into the upper end of the casing 15 in which it has a working fit. A horizontal bearing is provided between the' stud and the casing by means of flanges 26 and 27 on such parts respectively, whereby the housmg 24 is supported very firmly and strongly in position so as to be revoluble about a vertical axi thereon. As is clearly shown in this figure, the stud 25 furnishes a bearmg for the upper end of the shaft 14.

At one end portion, the housing 24 is outer end of which is secured the framework 29 of a wringer of any approved type, the connection being effected by means of bolts through a flange 30 on the outer end of the stud 28. In the construction shown the. wringer comprises cooperating rollers 31, 32 of any approved type mounted upon shafts 33 and 34, respectively, which are operatively connected together by means ofthe ordinary intermeshing gears 35 and 36.

As' is clearly shown in Fig. 5, the shaft 34 upon which the roller32 is mounted extends outward into the housing 24 within which it is provided with a sleeve 37' which is feathered thereon so as to be rotated thereby but slidable longitudinally thereof. The sleeve 37 is provided with =bevel gears 38 and 39 fixed thereon, in the construction shown being formed integrally therewith. The bevel gears 38 and 39 are spaced apart in such relation as to stand on opposite sides of a bevel gear 40 secured upon the upper end of the shaft 14, the spacing being such that the gears 38 and 39 are adapted to stand clear of the gear 40 and such that when desired either gear 38 or 39 is adapted to'be moved into operative engagement with the gear 40. For shifting the gears 38 and 39 a lever 41 is provided pivotally mounted upon apin 42. The lower end of the lever 41 is bifurcated, the lower ends of the arms having operative engagement with a cir- 'cumferential groove 43 about the sleeve 37.

As will be appreciated by an inspection of Fig. 5, the rollers 31 and 32 of the wringer are'adapted to remain idle while the gears 38 and 39 stand in the position shown in Fig. 5; are adapted to be driven in one direction when the gear 38 is thrown into mesh with the gear 40; and are adapted to be driven in the opposite direction when the gear 39 is thrown into meshwith the gear. 40. Any suitable means as .may be desired may be rovided for holding the lever 41 releasab y in its several operative positions for assuring continued meshing of the gears. a

By the use of the means above described comprising the housing 24 with its lugs or studs 25 and 28 for supporting the wringer structure, the wringer is adapted to be swung horizontally into any desired posi- 25. The turned end 47 of the lever 44 exis very important.

tion with respect to the washing machine. For holding the wringer in any one of a plurality of desired positions with respect to the machine, I have pro ided a movable latch in the form of a lever 44 pivotally mounted upon a pin 45 carried by suitable lugs 46 projecting laterally from the stud tends into a notch 48 in the'flange 26 and in its normal position as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 5 extends also into one of the notches 49 in the flange 27, serving to hold the shaft-casing 24 against rotation with respect to the housing 15, in the construction s own four of the notches 49 being provided. As will be appreciated from an inspection of Fig. 5, when the lever 44 is moved upward into theposition shown in solid lines in that figure,the turned end 47 clears the notches 49 of the flange 27 so as to permit the horizontal swinging movement of the wringer with respect to the machine.

Means is also provided for-preventing an upward movement of the'lever 44 into the p os1 t1on shown in solid lines in Fig. 5 while elther of the gears 38 or 39 is in operative engagement with the gear 40. This feature If the lever 44 were raised out of its locking position with the gear 40 in engagement wlth either of the gears 38 or 39, the power applied through the-gear 40 would be adapted to do either of two things,namely, to drive the rollers 31 and 32 of the wringer in the normal manner, or to swing the wringer as a whole about its vertical axis. If the wringer should be swung in this manner through the power applied at the gear 40, the rollers 31 and 3 2.would not at the same time be driven positively. When, however, the wringer was brought into contact with something which would prevent its swinging farther,

I in that case the power would immediately be applied to the rollers 31 and 32. If it happened to be the fingers of the operator ,priate wall portion of the housing 24 between the sleeve 37 and the lever 44. A cirinent with the pin 50 when the sleeve 37 .is in such position as to hold the gears 38 and 39 both out of engagement with the gear 'cumferential groove 51 is providedin the sleeve 37 in such position as to be in'aline-' 40. The pin 50 is of such a length that the lever 44 cannot be moved sufficiently to clear the notch 49 of the flange 27 except when the pin 50 is displaced upward within the groove 51. It is thus clearvthat the lever 44 cannot be given a complete operative movement for effecting an adjustment of the position of the wringer except when the gears 38 and 39 are held by the pin 50' in their neutral position with respect to the gear 40; In the construction shown, the pin 50 is held yieldingly downward by means of a spring 52 which engages at its lower end a key 53 carried by the pin. With the washing machine 10 in position adjacent to one of two stationary tubs 54 and 55, the wringer is adapted to be swung into the position shown in Fig. 2 so as to wring the clothes from the washingmachine to the tub 54 which would preferably contain rinsing water. The wringer can then be swung to the position shown in F ig. 3 to wring the clothes from the tub 54 to the tub 55 which might contain a second rinsing water or a bluing water as might be desired. After the clothes have been wrung into the tub 55, the wringer may be shifted into the position shown in Fig. 4, so as to wring the clothes from the tub 55 into a clothes basket 56 or to any other suitable container. If ,it' is desired to wring the clothes directly from the Washing machine 10 to a clothes basket or other container in the position occupied by the clothes basket in Fi f 4, this canbe accomplished by shifting t e wringer 90 in clockwise direction, as illustrated in Fig. 4, so as to stand above the side of the washer, the direction of rotation of the rollers 31 and 32 being changed to correspond to the direction in which the clothes are to travel.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination of a support, a wringer revolubly mounted thereon so as to swing horizontally thereabout, movable means for locking said wringer against swinging, a driving gear, a sleeve slidably mounted adjacent to said driving gear, a

second gear mounted on said sleeve and adapted to be moved into operative engage ment with said first-named gear, a circumg a longitudinally-movable sleeve on said ferential groove being formed in said sleeve,

and a pl"nger radially-positioned with re- 7 spect to said sleeve and adapted to engage said groove and in that position to permit an operative stroke of said locking means for permitting the swinging of the wringer, said plunger being adapted when engaging the periphery of the sleeve to prevent a swinging movement of the wringer, the groove being positioned upon the sleeve to receive the plunger only when said two gears are out of engagement with each other.

2. A machine of the class described com prising in combination a body, a 'gear-hous-. ing rotatably connected therewith so as to swing about a vertical axis, a horizontal,

' shaft in said housing, gearing in said housmg comprising a drivlng member and a driven member, the latter being mounted on shaft, said sleeve being provided with a circumferential groove, a pivoted latch connected with the gear-housing and adapted to engage registering notches formed respectively in a stationary member connected to :said body and in a member connected with said rotatablegear-housing, a springpressed pin normally, holding said latch in said notches to lock the gear-housing against rotation, and means for shifting said driven member out of mesh with said driving memher and -at the same time bringing the groove in said sleeve opposite said pin to permit said pin to move away from said latch.

HARRY J. GRINER. 

